Trolley catcher and retriever.



No. 789,804. PATENTED MAY 1 6, 1905.

W. W. GEISBR. A

'TROLLEY GATGHER AND RETRIEVER..

APPLIUATION FILED DBO.19, 1903.

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- E @EN 02 Allume)l No. 789.804. PATENTED MAY 16. l1905. W. W. GEISBR.

TROLLEY GATGHER AND RETRIEVER.

APPLI0A'I.I01-I FILED 13110.19, 1903.

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WHA/55555 1N VENTOR ,waan/W NTTED STATES Patented May 16, 1905.

VALTER W. GEISER, OF ALTOONA, PENNSYLVANIA.

TROLLEY CATCHER AND RETRIEVER..

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 789,804, dated May 16,1905.

Application filed December 19, 1903. Serial No. 185.816.

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Be it known that L VALTER W. GETsER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Altoona, in the county of Blair and State of Pennsylvania,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Trolley Catchersand Re- 'trievers; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear,and exact description of the invention, such as will enable othersskilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to devices for catching and retrieving trolleysfor electric cars which use the overhead system; and it has for itsobject to provide a simple, durable, and comparatively inexpensivedevice of few parts adapted to retain the trolley-rope taut and to catchand retrieve the trolley in the event 'of its leaving the wire, andthereby prevent the same coming in contact with the wire-supportingdevices; and it consists of the parts and combinations of partshereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification,Figure l is a longitudinal vertical section on the line l 1, Fig. 2,looking in the direction of the arrows, the spring of the rope-reelbeing omitted and the inner face of the latter being broken away to showone of the pawls in position with its outer edge in contact with a spuron the dog. Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical section on the line 2' 2,Fig. l, looking in the direction of the arrows. Fig. 3 is a detail sideelevation of one of the pawls. Fig. 4 is a detail edge elevation of thesame. Fig. 5 is a detail side elevation of the dog. Fig. 6 is a detailvertical section onthe line 6 6, Fig. 5, looking in the direction of thearrows. Fig. 7 is an edge elevation of the dog. Fig. 8 is a sideelevation of the dog, showing the springs in position and thetripping-plate in dotted lines. Fig. 9 is a detail side elevation, andFig. l() an edge view, of the tripping-plate, respectively. Fig. 11 is aside elevation showing the locking and releasing device in its upperposition, and Fig'. l2 an edge view of lock ing and releasing deviceremoved from the casing.

Similar letters refer to similar parts throughout all the views.

their edges on a line concentric with the studshaft C.

The stud-'shaft C is firmly secured to the head a3 of the casing byscrewing into a threaded opening formed centrally in the said head or byany other suitable or preferred means, so as to hold the same rigidly atright angles to said head. The shaft C sustains the various workingparts of the device in their operative positions. On the outer or freeend of the shaft C is loosely mounted a reel D, having a peripheralflange d, which serves to prevent the trolley-rope which is wound onsaid reel from working off at one side, while a plate E, which is boltedor secured by screws e to the edge of the reel, forms a flange whichserves a similar purpose at the other side. The plate E is of lessdiameter than the casing and works freely in the open end thereof, and abolt c extends through a central opening in said plate and enters theend of the shaft C, and thereby serves to prevent all the parts mountedon said shaft from moving longitudinally thereon, but permitting of thefree rotation of such parts. Between the reel and the plate E a coiledspring F is arranged, one end of which is secured to said shaft and theother end to a pin cZ, projecting from the reel, the purpose of which isto rotate or turn said reel, so as to wind the trolley-rope thereon inorder to take up the slack thereof. This spring is of sufiicieutstrength to take up the slack of the rope, but is not strong enough tomove the trolley-pole. The reel D, as clearly shown in Fig. 2, is formedwith a hub 22, which abuts loosely against a similar hub g on a flangeddisk G, mounted loosely on said shaft with its flange g projectingtoward the head of the casing. Arranged within the flange of disk G andsurrounding the shaft C is a coiled spring H, of a strength suflicient.to overcome the IOO strength of the springs used to hold up thetrolley-pole, said spring H being secured at one end to a pin g2,projecting from the face of the disk Gr, and its other end to the shaftC, so as to rotate the disk G when permitted so to do, as will behereinafter described.

In the space between the disk G- andthe reel D is arranged the lockingand releasing device, which consists of the pawls L, pivotally securedto the inner face of the reel, and when in their normal position restingon the hubs cl2 and g, as clearly shown in Fig. Q. The pawls are held inthe position described when the mechanism is at rest by springs Z,seated in pockets l in the short arms of the pawls and pressing againstthe hub d 2, as best shown in dotted lines, Fig.A l. When the reel isrotated, the pawls are thrown out by centrifugal force, so that one ofthem will engage a spur or lug m on a dog M, which is loosely hung on apin or stud-shaft m', projecting from the outer face of the disk G, andthus tilt or turn said dog, so as to disengage its pointm2 from thatoneof the teeth 0,2 of the casing with which itis in contact, and therebypermit the spring H to expand and impart a quick and rapid revolution tothe disk and reel, and thus wind the trolley-rope on the reel and drawdown the trolley-pole. The disk and reel are arrested by a lug or stopai, projecting from the casing into the path of the point m2 at a pointat a slight distance above their starting-point. The dog, as clearlyshown in Figs. 5 and 8, is formed with a bent or curved groove m3 in itsside face to receive the springs m4 m5, and mounted loosely on saidstud-shaft m' is a tripping-plate N, from which projects a short lug n,which enters the groove m3 and lies between the adjacent ends of thesprings m4 m5. A plate O is bolted to the pin or studshai't m and to asimilar stud m, so as to retain the dog and trip-plate in place. Aspring I is bent around the stud m and one of its ends engages a notchformed in the lateral projection m7 of the dog and the other end engagesthe stud m6 for the purpose of normally holding the point of dog M outor in engagement with one of the teeth a.

The tripping-plate N is formed with a camsurface n3, the purpose ofwhich is to engage the extended ends of the pawlsL and throw the pawlwith which it engages out of engagement with the dog, thus permittingthe dog to be thrown outward by the springs P and into position to againengage one of the teeth a2. This is accomplished by the operator pullingon the trolley-rope in a direction to unwind the same from the reeluntil the lug or projection n* on the tripping-plate strikes against thelug'or stop a* and the plate is turned on its stud, the projection n4sliding past said stop a* and being thrown against the upper face of thestop. The operator then releases the rope and the spring H acts torotate or turn the reel and disk in the opposite direction and causingthe trippingplate to turn on its stud and its cam-surface to engage andmove inwardly the pawl L, thus releasing the dog therefrom andpermitting itsspring P to throw its point into position to engage one ofthe teeth a2, and thus arrest further movement of the disk.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

l. A trolley catcher and retriever, comprising va casing havingprojections, a trolley-rope reel mounted in said casing, a spring forrotating said reel, a rotatable member mounted adjacent said reel, aspring for rotating said member, a dog pivoted to said rotatable niemberand engaging the'projections for locking said rotatable member againstrotation, and centrifugally-operated pawls pivoted to the reel forlocking said reel to said projections, and means for releasing said dogto permit of rotation of said member. v

2. A trolley catcher and retriever, comprising a casing havingprojections, a trolley-rope reel mounted in said casing, a spring forrotating said reel, centrifugally-acting.pawls carried by said reel, aspring-operated rotatable member mounted adjacent said reel, a dogpivoted to said rotatable member and engaging the projections forlocking said member against rotation and a trippingplate adapted to beoperated by said pawls to release said member.

3. A trolley catcher and retriever, comprising a casing having a seriesof teeth formed thereon, a reel mounted in said casing for thetrolley-rope, a spring For operating said reel, centrifugally-operatingpawls carried lby said reel, a spring-operated rotatable disk, a dog forengaging the casing-teeth carried by said disk, a tripping-plate forreleasing said pawls to permit of their return to normal positions, anda projection for tripping said plate.

4. A trolley catcher and retriever, comprising a casing, aspring-operated reel and a spring-operated disk arranged in said casing,pawls pivotally secured to said reel, a dog pivotally mounted on saiddisk, a pivoted tripping-plate for engaging said pawls to release them,and springs for returning said trippingplate to its normal position.

5. A trolley catcher and retriever, comprising a casing, a series ofteeth formed on said casing, a spring-operated trolley-rope reel, aspring-operated disk, pawls pivotally secured to said reel, a dog forengaging the casingteeth, a tripping-plate for moving said pawls out ofengagement withlsaid dog, and means for tripping said plate.' I

In testimony whereof I aiiiX my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WALTER W. GEISER.

Witnesses:

H. C. REED, SAMUEL STENGER.

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